Intellitec Electronic Climate Control

New Member

My front air conditioner has not worked in two years. Coleman has been very sympathetic but the dealers have refused to work on it and say that it has to be seen by air conditioner repair persons. I finally found one who would look at it and he could find nothing wrong with the unit. I was looking at the Electronic Climate Control unit and going through the checklist to troubleshoot. I noticed a clicking noise coming from the module located inside my electic panel. When I put the switch to "Test" the air conditioner came on and cooled just fine. I have tried to contact General Dynamics Intellitec but all I am able to do is leave a message and they don't call back. The General Dynamics webpage does not have a link to Intellitec.

Although this motorhome is under warranty and has an extended warranty, I have found that the selling dealer does not provide after sale service. I have had to fix numerous problems with this motorhome, a 2002 Southwind 37U, in order to keep it usable. I have taken it to two other dealers and they wouldn't work on it. Fleetwood has ignored my concerns which were voice over the phone and in a letter.

Does anyone know of a control unit that I can purchase to replace the Intellitec Electronic Control system. I do not think it is wise to leave the unit in the "test" mode in order to cool the motorhome.

New Member

I would contact Coleman and see if they have an electromechanical thermostat that cn be used with your unit. I worked for several years on residential and commercial airconditioning units and some of the biggest pains in the neck were fancy electronic control systems. The simpler the system, the more reliable it generally is.

New Member

When the generator is running it seperates the air conditioners and the generator runs the front one first. Then I can turn on the rear one. Don't asked me how they set that up, that is just what the book says.

So the problem is on the land line. According to the book, if I have a 30amp hook up, which I do right in my yard, I can turn on the front air conditioner and it will start cooling, then if I turn on the rear air conditioner it is suppose to shed electrical current until the compressors are both running and both conditioners are cooling. If I have something else turned on, say the microwave, washer or dryer, television, etc. there will be to much draw on the circuit and the breaker will blow. I have only had this happen on two occasions that I can recall. And the wife was running the vacuum cleaner and I turned on a toaster. Lot of juice.

The unit has two thermostats. The front one also turns on the gas furnace. The levers can be set to lo or hi cool or auto cool. They recommend auto cool. There are two lights under each thermostat. One green and one red for "shed". When I first turn the air condioners on they will bounce back and forth from green to red until the compressors kick on. But the front one doesn't kick on.

Behind the electrical panel, mounted on the floor of the closet where all the wires come out of the 12v fuse box and the circuit breaker panel, there is a black box. ON the front of the black box is a red light, not on, and a switch. The switch is labeled "test" and front and rear. If I put it on the front airconditioner, even with the thermostat off, the air conditioner kicks on and cools perfectly. The red light would come on, according to the book, if there were an electrical fault in the wiring to the unit. The light does not come on. If I then turn on the rear airconditioner using the thermostat it comes on and cools perfectly.

You can read the other information in the Tips forum. In it I explain what the Intellitec rep told me.

Thanks for your post.

I am going to contact Coleman and find out if there is a simpler way of turning them on. A unit that is affected by noise doesn't sound like a quality product to me.

New Member

Your intellitec is sensitive to both current and Voltage. If your voltage is to low under load the current demand goes up. Your unit then determines that there is not enough current to operate both a/c units.

The whole problem is Fleetwood trying to get as much bang for their buck on a 30 amp system. The easiest fix is to remove the intellitec energy management system and wire in a 50 amp cord. You already have a 50 amp transfer switch from the generator side. Any qualified RV Tech worth his salt should be able to do it for you.

Have you checked the actual Voltage (RMS) under load? If it is below 117 you will need to boost it up. Not trying to sell anything but a Hughs Autoformer should to the job quite nicely. Here is how it works, by boosting the voltage up your appliances use less current (Amps) Thus giving you more power (Watts)to turn more on. ie. an A/C at 100 volts uses 22 amps the same A/C at 127 uses 11 amps.

New Member

Is there a website that I can check out the Hughs Autoformer. If I change to a 50 amp service I have to rewire the plug in cord and the circuit breaker box. I am running a 30 amp 110 service from Fleetwood. If it were 30 amp 220 I wouldn't be having the problem with low voltage if that is the problem.

I have it at a dealership now trying to determine the fix. If you can direct me to the easiest solution given your expertise please e-mail me at ronretire55@hotmail.com. Just put Motorhome Airconditioner in the subject line. I am pretty good with mechanics and electricity does not scare me as long as the main is disconnected. And I always read the directions and follow them to the "T". Learned that the hard way.

New Member

I had a similar problem with my 2000 Discovery, after 2 years of trying to figure it out some one told me to make sure that I didnt have any floresant lights on while trying to start the air conditioner! and thats was it! Floresant light emit a frequecy that screws with the A/C's control board and does not allow it to run!

New Member

welcome to the wonderful world of Fleetwood. No wonder they have earned a rep for not honoring their warranties or reimbursing the dealers for warranty work. Hence most dealers are reluctant to touch a Fleetwood product. Far too many owners affectionately term their Fleetwood motorhomes as "the motor home from hell"